Governance
Meet the School’s Governors
School governors provide strategic leadership and accountability in the school. The Board of Governors appoint the Headteacher and hold the main responsibility for the school’s finance. The governors work with the Headteacher to make the tough decisions about balancing resources and are a source of challenge and support to the Headteacher. The governing body sets the aims and objectives for the school and monitors and evaluates the progress the school is making towards achievement of these.

Karen Bilner
Headteacher

Matthew Carney
Chair of Governors

Karen Bland
Vice-chair of Governors

Rachelle Jones
Staff Governor

Adam Clark
Co-opted Governor

Paula Baker
Co-opted Governor

Kathryn Jones
Co-opted Governor

Hilary Cairns
Co-opted Governor

Ben Surtees
Parent Governor

Andy Ellingham
Parent Governor

Allie Manley
Co-opted Governor
Governor Responsibilities
Our governing body is constituted of three Parent Governors, one Local Authority governor, one Staff Governor, one Headteacher and six Co-opted Governors. The full governing body and each of the committees meet at least once per term. In addition each governor has responsibility for monitoring and reporting on an individual subject or school area.
Governor | Role | Committees |
---|---|---|
Matthew Carney | Chair of Governors Co-opted Governor | Finance (Chair) Personnel Learning & Achievement |
Karen Bilner | Headteacher | Learning & Achievement Finance Communications & Community |
Rachelle Jones | Staff Governor | Premises, Health & Safety Communications & Community |
Karen Bland | Vice-chair of Governors | Communications & Community Personnel Learning & Achievement |
Adam Clark | Co-opted Governor | Communications & Community (Chair) Finance |
Kathryn Jones | Co-opted Governor Link Governor | Learning & Achievement Communications & Community |
Paula Baker | Co-opted Governor | Learning & Achievement (Chair) SEND Governor |
Hilary Cairns | Co-opted Governor | Learning & Achievement Safeguarding Governor |
Ben Surtees | Parent Governor | Premises, Health & Safety Finance Committee GDPR Governor |
Andy Ellingham | Parent Governor | Premises, Health & Safety |
Allie Manley | Co-opted Governor | Premises, Health & Safety (Chair) |
Kelly Martin | Associate Member (non-voting) | Finance Committee |
Lisa Allum | Associate Member (non-voting) | Premises, Health & Safety Committee |
Governor Appointments
The table below shows appointment details of all governors that have served at any point over the past 12 months.
Governor | Appointed | Appointed by | Term of Office |
---|---|---|---|
Rachelle Jones | Sept 2014/Nov 2018 | Staff | 4 years |
Adam Clark | Feb 2015/Nov 2018 | The Governing Body | 4 years |
Karen Bilner | Sept 2015 | (Headteacher) | n/a |
Matthew Carney | Nov 2015/Jun 2019 | The Governing Body | 4 years |
Kathryn Jones | Mar 2020 | The Governing Body | 4 years |
Paul Fountain | Resigned Jun 2019 | The Governing Body | 4 years |
Paula Baker | Mar 2020 | The Governing Body | 4 years |
Hilary Cairns | Nov 2016 | The Governing Body | 4 years |
Richard Halsall | Resigned Feb 2019 | The Governing Body | 4 years |
Karen Bland | Mar 2017 | The Governing Body | 4 years |
Ben Surtees | Sept 2017 | Parents | 4 years |
Andy Ellingham | Mar 2019 | Parents | 4 years |
Allie Manley | Mar 2019 | The Governing Body | 4 years |
Governor Attendance
/aThe table below shows the attendance of governors at full governing body meetings over the last academic year.
Governor | Autumn 2020 | Summer 2020 | Spring 2020 |
---|---|---|---|
Rachelle Jones | present | present | present |
Adam Clark | present | present | present |
Karen Bilner | present | present | present |
Matthew Carney | present | present | present |
Kathryn Jones | present | present | present |
Paula Baker | present | absent | present |
Hilary Cairns | present | present | present |
Ben Surtees | present | present | present |
Karen Bland | present | present | present |
Andy Ellingham | present | present | present |
Allie Manley | present | present | present |
Pecuniary Interests
Governors hold an important public office, so in the interests of transparency, the governing body publishes details of pecuniary interests including any governance roles in other educational institutions or any material interests arising from relationships between governors or relationships between governors and school staff (including spouses, partners and close relatives).
Governor | Name | Nature of interest | Address of business | Nature of business |
---|---|---|---|---|
Adam Clark | Green Spark Productions Ltd | Director and shareholder | 243 Felixstowe Rd Ipswich Suffolk IP39BN | Event production, media production, audio visual hire & installations |
Adam Clark | Clare Clark | Spouse – Employed at the School | ||
Ben Surtees | Surtees Studios Ltd | Director and shareholder | 2 Burgess Cottages Pound Hill Little Dunmow Dunmow Essex CM6 3HW | Software Development |